Genre/Influences: Cinematic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Italian bass player and multi-instrumentalist Massimo Pupillo has released massive things, collaborations and productions in his career. He got involved with Zu and collaborated with an endless number of famous artists like  Mike Patton (Faith No More), Jim O’ Rourke (Sonic Youth), Guy Picciotto & Joe Lally (Fugazi), FM Einheit ( Einstürzende Neubauten), Damo Suzuki (CAN), David Tibet (Current 93), Mick Harris (Scorn), Gordon Sharp (This Mortal Coil & Cindytalk) etc etc.

Content: This work sounds in the true line of Glacial Movements; a sonic exploration of deeply Ambient and Cinematic fields. The work is fully evasive although featuring a few darker, mysterious, parts -which are mainly emerging at the end of the work. The wafting side of the work has been accentuated by the effect of voices. 

+ + + : This work has a true visual strength which is totally fitting with the great artwork of the album featuring landscapes and pictures of tribes. It feels like traveling through isolated spaces mixing mainly relaxing passages together with a few obscure parts.

– – – : The main point with this kind of productions is that there’s no visual content and that’s what I’m a bit missing; a wider conceptual approach mixing music together with other artistic creation like film, photography, ballet etc..

Conclusion: An album inviting the listener to dream away and visit other dimensions and cultures.

Best songs: “Ulda”, “Beaivi”, “Sami”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.zuism.net/massimo /  www.facebook.com/massimozu

Label: www.glacialmovements.com / www.facebook.com/glacialmovements

About Massimo Pupillo

Massimo Pupillo is an Italian bass player and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of Zu, with whom he released eighteen albums and played more than 2,000 shows worldwide. He has also collaborated with musicians including Mike Patton, Jim O’Rourke, Guy Picciotto, Joe Lally, FM Einheit, Damo Suzuki, David Tibet, Mick Harris, and Gordon Sharp.

“Our Forgotten Ancestors” was released on 20 October 2023 through Glacial Movements in digital and CD formats, featuring eleven tracks including “Beaivi,” “Ulda,” and “Sami.”

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Skren is a German duo driven by ‘Bias’ and ‘Poisa’. Hailing from Düsseldorf they this year self-released their second album “Chaos”. This work comes one year after the debut-full length “Grell” while they also released multiple singles. I discovered an Electronic duo driven by multiple influences like Industrial, Techno and EBM. The fusion between all these elements creates a dark and powerful sound. The production sounds raw and unpolished, but still visionary. This might be the sound for further generations of Electronic artists. Skren definitely deserves a wider attention and recognition so I hope this interview will incite people to discover the ‘analog chaos and digital dust’ made by Skren.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Skren: Skren is analog chaos and digital dust. Skren is part of our Industrial Riot-label that includes productions of Electronic music, art and all types of collaborations.

Bias: As a kid I was always listening to music-cassettes that my sisters recorded with 90s stuff like Clawfinger, Type O Negative, NIn, Faith No More. I wrote lyrics taught myself to play the guitar and the drums. I programmed my first midi sequences on and old Roland Groove-box and learned working with a DAW. It was a very creative time with lots of artistic experiments. All my friends also did something with music and we pushed each other to get ahead. After I’ve been involved in various sound-projects Poisa and I started making music together. We got our first synth the Waldorf Blofeld which is still a part of our studio today. We continued making music during my studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and Skren was initiated shortly after the graduation.

Poisa: In my family music and art were always around. I play the piano since the age of 5 and my two older brothers really were into having a band and playing their music in our basement. As a teenager I had to follow my personal taste in music to differentiate myself from the traditional styles of music that surrounded me. Instead of studying music I decided to study fine arts, focusing on sculpture and painting during these years. In my art studies I learned to be able to express myself in any medium. It enabled the liberation of my music from the academic approach and I now make music my art.

Q: I noticed you guys are hailing from Düsseldorf. I instantly think about Kraftwerk, DAF, Die Krupps… but what’s the impact of those artists on younger generations of musicians like Skren?

Poisa: We always get confronted with these artists and the time frame they came up in. The history of these bands is connected to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and they leave a strong legacy. We have great respect for these artists and their work. But we don’t continue this tradition, because we’re following a very different expression… more dark, more heavy, more aggressive. We don’t care much about making music in Düsseldorf of all places. Skren’s sound can happen everywhere. Contemporary music is much more interesting for us.

Bias: Only a handful of artists here in the city do Noise, EBM, Hard-Techno and Industrial stuff. The vital places where music developed back in the days aren’t there anymore. Without being disrespectful to the artists you mentioned, but they are already part of the music history with an exhibition in the local museum. For me personally, I respect the pioneering spirit but the influence is very harmless, I need a completely different musical energy.

Q: You already released a few productions so how do you look back at the evolution from the early songs till the “Chaos”-album?

Poisa: Our first attempt producing songs for an album ended up after nearly one year, because we were not satisfied with the sound and the feel of the material. So we had to reset the whole setup and workflow to start with a new mindset. We refreshed our gear and ended up in changing the vocals from English to German which helped us a lot to become more direct and authentic and in this state the “Grell”-album happened almost naturally. It was the first collection of songs that made up sense as an album to us and defined a direction we could imagine to continue and build up on.

Bias: The “Chaos”-album developed more under an over-all vision we had. Sound-wise, lyrically and visually we both had some plans where we wanted to go. But the production was a little difficult for both of us and we struggled a lot to finalize the different production steps. But in the end we are very proud of the result with all the different musical directions it opens up for us, and how it comes together with the video visuals and the artwork. With every single production we got more into synth- and production-techniques.

Q: I think you perfectly exposed the theme of “Chaos” by the artwork of the album… which is pure chaos! What did you try to express by the title and the artwork and how do you transform the theme of chaos into music?

Bias: For me the title “Chaos” is a term to set the outline for the scenario that opens up within the album. I felt like existing in a world where it is hard to find reliable and consistent points to orientate oneself. The constant uncertainty about the future and the feeling of powerlessness in the face of events has helped me to shape the vision for the album. The songs reflect different situations to face this chaos.

Poisa: The title song “Chaos” is about this totally functional system that is so controlled and efficient. It is always pushing forward up to the limit, highly technical and everything gets swept away in a current. But a small change can bring this whole system into trouble, into a total loss of control. I like the idea of destruction and the search for a fresh start. When you have to rethink your routine and discover new perspectives. It is a struggle which is always present in life especially as a visual artist who in this world first fulfills no purpose at all except to ask questions. For me our music and the artwork represent this struggle. The structured elements get counteracted by parts which happened by accident. The confrontation of opposing parts and the intentional loss of control is our way to integrate chaos into the music.

Q: Your sound is featuring multiple influences, but how do you perceive this work? What’s the input of each member and what have been the main difficulties when writing and producing this album?

Bias: The multiple influences that can be heard in our music certainly result from the different music styles we listen to and from the interest in playing various instruments. When we produce music we try to follow the requirements of the song. It’s not about adapting our music to a certain genre. Therefore Skren’s sound is open to various influences. And of course this is audible in the music. That is how we define Industrial for us. It is a form of mixing different elements together to achieve contrast and friction. My musical approach is basically to transport feelings and moods and to give them expression. I do the vocals, write the lyrics, and come up with guitar ideas and drum-sounds. And I do additional synth programming, sample work and most of the technical side of mixing and mastering. When it comes to arrangement and mixing and mastering we sit down together and listen to what we prefer the most.

The main difficulties in writing the “Chaos”-album were to bring all the different parts together to achieve our sound and distill the essence from all the ideas.

Poisa: I do most of the synth stuff like programming sounds and sequencing basslines or lead patterns. And I also play the bass in some songs. I do the counterpart during arranging, mixing and mastering and listen from a more distant perspective. I often take on the subtractive part in the band. When we have collected a lot of material for a song, it is often my job to shorten and reduce in order to come to a straighter musical line.

Q: Skren seems to be a pure DIY (do it yourself) formation, but how important is it to you to stay ‘independent’ and would you consider singing to a label? What brings the future by the way?

Bias: Doing everything on our own is the most direct way to immediately express everything we want to as an artist. The independency we have is good for us and we really can work on stuff in our tempo without thinking about deadlines and fitting into defined categories. But working independently is very time-consuming. The whole organization to exploit all possibilities for people to get to know our music requires a lot of energy that we would rather spend in the studio. For this it would be advantageous to have a professional partner who takes over these tasks.

Poisa: For the future we are open for any kind of collaboration if it pushes Skren to new and exciting directions. Currently we are working on new material for future releases and we are preparing a set for a live scenario. So we hope to hit some stages soon. 

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Two charity releases to help Ukraine have taken the Bandcamp charts by storm in the past few weeks. There is the Side-Line powered “Electronic Resistance” compilation (and book and T-shirt) featuring 55 Ukrainian bands, and there’s the COP International powered 3-track single “Come Together” featuring members of bands including Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, Black Needle Noise and others.

The two releases have three things in common, they come from the indie scene, they have been created and released in record time, and both people behind the release are actually longtime friends. We decided to talk with both initiative takers, our very own chief editor Bernard Van Isacker and producer and musician John Fryer who both invested their time in creating two extremely successful charity projects.

SL: John and Bernard, you were the very first people to launch a charity project in the metal/rock and darkwave scene to help the Ukrainian people and also the ones that made it a huge success. What was the decisive moment when you said, ok, let’s do this?

John: It was late one Sunday evening and I was talking to Christian from COP International records on the phone and as always we were discussing many thing that are happening to us and the world and we got talking about the invasion and all the people suffering the effects it was having on them. So we decided to do a song to raise money. We were like yeah let’s do a song get it recorded and out by Friday of that week.

We were totally nuts to think it could have been done in such a short time. It took as 3 weeks and working around the clock not just on the music side of things but calling, emailing and texting people to get them involved in the project.

Bernard: The moment I saw the first images of the bombing, the dead civilians, I was like, I have to do something, and I have to do it right now. It took roughly 2,5 weeks to get everything done as far as the compilation goes, because I’m still working on the photo book itself which is also going to be released.

I honestly never thought Putin would actually invade Ukraine… who on earth can be so sick? It came as a big blow in my face when I heard the news. I was like, WTF, we are in the year 2022 and some lunatic still thinks it is OK to just invade another country. Looking back, we should have known this was going to happen, all the signals were there for years, especially after he invaded the Crimean with his ‘green’ men. Putin has a track record which is just plain wrong in all its facets and that was just one of the examples that should have made us realize far worse was bound to happen. Add to that that Europe acts like a junkie when it comes to oil and gas…

SL: I know you know each other rather well, it’s like same minds think alike?

John: I have known Bernard for many a moon now and he has a big heart also. Even though we didn’t discuss this with each other we have both come to the same conclusion of what a terrible thing that is happening in Ukraine and want to help in some way.

Bernard: I appreciate John a lot as well and I know he has the heart at the right place. It didn’t surprise me that he ended up with a similar idea. I think we both are very much affected by what is happening so it came as a natural thing to help in the way we know best, John by making music, me by setting up a project and use the Side-Line promo machinery to turn the project into a success.

SL: Can you both describe how you set up your projects?

Bernard: Within 3 days most of the tracks were delivered by the participating bands, some even recorded new material during those 3 days. I then had to literally chase for the necessary paperwork, because the last thing these Ukrainian bands are busy with or need now is bureaucracy, which I totally understand, but it is and was a necessary evil which took me around 2 extra weeks. In the meantime I had contacted Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) in Norway if he could make sure the sound would be ok because some of the sourced material literally was recorded while the bombs were falling like I said. Other bands had nothing left but rough demos, so there was some work needed to get everything polished.

John: Christian and I had done a similar thing before but on a smaller scale. This time we wanted to reach a much bigger audience so we decided to reach for the stars. I’ve known some of the artists for a long time but we also got a lot of help from people we asked like Geno Lenardo, Marija Buljeta, Rod Saez Chavez who also joined in asking people to join our project and we thank them and everyone else who has helped along the way and the people who have donated money to the project.

Side-Line: Bernard, you decided to get to work with Ukrainian bands only. How on earth did you get hold of 55 bands in such a record time?

Bernard: Ah yes, I forgot to tell that. Very simple, I contacted a few bands in direct, but most were actually triggered by a Facebook message I spread in Ukraine. People there reacted very quickly from allover Ukraine, also fans contacted bands after seeing the message. That’s one of the few times when I thought that Facebook did a proper constructive job.

Side-Line: John, you chose to work on a cover of John Lennon’s “Come Together”…

John: John Lennon wrote “Come Together” and we re-imagined it and added Queens [we will rock you]. It is a cover of the Beatles song mixed with a Queen song and we changed the words to [we will stop you]. As in the name, we wanted people to come together to help. This kind of invasion should not be happening. It’s horrifying to think that things like this can still happen in this day and age.

Side-Line: John, you made a supergroup – à la Bruderschaft – but this time from the metal scene featuring members of Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, and a lot more bands. How did this process technically work?

John: I wouldn’t say Metal Scene I would say Alternative Music Scene.

Doing this kind of thing these days is much easier I would say as you have the internet and that’s how we got everyone from around the world on the track. We would email, text or call and if they were willing to be involved we would send them the track and they would record their parts as most people these days have the ability to record at home. I ended up with about 200 tracks of audio and it was like fitting a jigsaw puzzle together and everyone is super happy with the end result.

Bernard: Now that you mention Bruderschaft, I worked on that charity project when it was released on Alfa Matrix back in 2003. You know, working on projects like these makes you realize that you can indeed help people, you just have to use your talents and network. And if everyone would do this, the world would be a much better place anyhow.

Side-Line: If I’m not wrong, this is the first time that 2 band scene players, COP International and Side-Line took the number 2 and 3 spot at the same time on Bandcamp. Kinda huge. What is your feedback on this?

John: In fact “Come Together [we will stop you] reached number 1 on Bandcamp and we have raised around 10,000$ and the artists that are involved with us in this have donated 100% from the money raised but unfortunately Bandcamp have taken their % from the donated sales and we are probably going to have to pay the publishers too even though it’s a god damn charity record to raise money for those who are suffering from this horrific and despicable war.

Bernard: Bandcamp and Paypal indeed take a big chunk. Luckily Bandcamp Friday helped a lot to recoup some of the costs that were involved.

As of this morning, Side-Line has already donated over 8000 EURO (8674,96 US$) to Ukrainian aid. Our compilation is still doing very well and I foresee to be sending hundreds of parcels with merchandise by mid-May as well.

As far as Bandcamp goes, it does make sense that we both stormed the charts there. You don’t find an artist like Rihanna on Bandcamp do you, I think she doesn’t even know it exists. Bandcamp mainly is a platform for the indie crowd, whether it is darkwave, metal, folk, jazz, blues or any other alternative (sub)style that often is not captured by the mainstream charts. So, we charted right in the indie scene, and that’s a very good thing.

Side-Line: Bernard, Side-Line is not a label, but a magazine, why was this project not released via a label?

Bernard: Good question but very easy to answer as well. These kind of projects need a very short roadmap from idea to execution, and since I worked with 55 bands things needed to be done quickly. In short you can not wait for months to get the ball rolling with these kind of projects, you need to act fast and thus instead of having this project go through various hands with different views and ideas, I decided to do it myself and handle everything from A until Z. Luckily Benoit Blanchart (Alfa Matrix, Aiboforcen) quickly volunteered to work on the book layout when I told him about the idea late February this year. Lots of work, which basically happened during long nights after my daytime job and all other work I have. But since I’m also responsible for the ‘Face The Beat’ compilation series, compiling it was not really different as far as the approach goes, just a lot faster when it came to releasing it.

The major difference however was the multitude of charities that had to be funded this time. I usually donate towards 2 or 3 charities per release. But here I spent a whole morning wiring money to all kind of Ukrainian organizations and also to bands who then did local charity. Lots of work, but I guess it’s more than worth it.

Side-Line: How do you both see things evolve in Ukraine?

John: We are hoping this ends now and the killing must stop and Ukraine can be re-built and bring back the misplaced people to their land and rebuild their lives. It’s amazing to see the resolve of these people through this tragedy.

Bernard: I’m personally not really optimistic as far as the length of this full blown war goes. If I see the increasing aggressive tone from all parts in the Russian society – just look how they have set up this huge Z-propaganda – I don’t think this will be over pretty soon. Hence why we need to support the population right now and continue to do so. The country is under heavy shelling in the east since a few days now and there is more happening. Putin started to roll a snowball downhill that is increasing in velocity and size.

I would not be surprised they’ll do sabotage acts inside Finland and Sweden to disrupt the society there since those countries clearly will choose to adhere to the NATO. Railway sabotage, massive hacking of public service networks, etc., they have done it in the past in the Baltic states so I see them returning to that modus operandi with Finland and Sweden especially. This is just the beginning. And we haven’t talked about how China is behaving in all of this.

But, one thing is quite clear, Putin seriously miscalculated what a courageous people the Ukrainians are. And especially because of that we have to start thinking of how to help Ukrainians to rebuild their country after this mad war is over and done.

Side-Line: Bernard, you are still in contact with all the band’s on a weekly basis, how are they?

Bernard: At least once a week they receive an update on the compilation, and I usually get a lot of messages back from the bands telling me how they are, where they are, where they have fled to this week, etc.. I wouldn’t say it is depressing, but it’s not really uplifting either. Having said that, I’m here, safe in my attic, they are there, unsure what will come next. So who am I to complain? I’m proud of every single one of those bands.

Side-Line: Is this the final word or do you plan to continue with this?

Bernard: I don’t know for you John, but I will most probably work on another project in the near future to help and collect funds for Ukraine. The first plans are on the table as we speak. Honestly, I am very positively surprised how our scene has been showing that they really care for the idea and purpose behind these 2 releases. A BIG thank you to all those who donated and who made these projects big successes.

John: We hope the song will continue to keep raising money. So if you have read this and want a way to help please head over to Bandcamp and buy the songs as every little bit will help in the long run. A big thank you again for everyone involved and those who have donated and to those who be donating in the future.

Below are the two charity releases.

Side-Line also covered John Fryer’s ‘Not Another Vampire Song’.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Future-pop, electro-pop.

Background/Info: Behind Wiccid is hiding Erie Loch who got some recognition for his songwriting, video, remix and studio work with bands Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Prong, Pig, Faith No More, Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, NIN, Marilyn Manson, Lords Of Acid, Velvet Acid Christ, Gary Numan, Peter Murphy and many more. “By Design” is the debut album of Erie Loch as Wiccid featuring 11 songs.

Content: “By Design” sounds pretty future-pop like and sometimes reminds me of Assemblage 23. But the sound is more powerful than the work of Tom Shear. The songs are carried by solid, pumping kicks. The choruses are powerful and melodic and sometimes revealing icy sound treatments. I also noticed a few softer cuts.

+ + + : “By design” is an accomplished production, clearly revealing the work of an experienced musician. The songs are well-crafted and accomplished with cool sound treatments. It’s a dark exposure of future-pop music, but still a kind of power-pop sound featuring furious beats and solid bass lines. Erie Loch also has a nose to compose alluring choruses. The song “Lights” is a little pearl and definitely one of the main potential hits of this work.

– – – : The few softer cuts aren’t exactly the best ones, but they’re more like bringing a break in the tracklist. Erie Loch is a talented singer, but I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of his timbre of voice. He has a particular and powerful voice, but I’m not a huge fan of it and that’s my single and very personal frustration about this work.

Conclusion: Wiccid simply confirms future-pop is alive and kicking!

Best songs: “Lights”, “Torn”, “Inhuman Nature”, “The grand Comedian”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.wiccidband.com / www.facebook.com/WiccidBand

Label: www.cleropatrarecords.com / www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Bad news keeps on pouring in. Former Faith No More singer Chuck Mosley died aged only 57 after battling for almost his entire life against his addiction.

The singer’s death was due to “the disease of addiction” so his family informed: “After a long period of sobriety, Charles Henry Mosley III lost his life, on November 9th, 2017, due to the disease of addiction. We’re sharing the manner in which he passed, in the hopes that it might serve as a warning or wake up call or beacon to anyone else struggling to fight for sobriety.”

Chuck Mosley is survived by long-term partner Pip Logan, two daughters, and a grandson. The family was not only haunted by Mosley’s addiction but also by financial problems as they announced that they “will be accepting donations for funeral expenses”.

Mosley, co-writer of Faith No More’s groundbreaking 1985 debut album “We Care A Lot” and its follow-up, “Introduce Yourself”, departed from the band due to his struggles with addiction. The split seems to have been amicable as he had since joined the band on stage for a number of shows. The band also performed live with him last year in a reunion style when they re-released their very first record.

Here’s Faith No More with Chuck Mosley with “We Care A Lot” live at The Warfield, San Francisco on April 14, 2010.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

One of the most successful Die Krupps albums ever, “II : The Final Option”, sees a double vinyl re-issue. This album includes some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Fatherland”, “To the Hilt” and “Bloodsuckers”. The album was released in 1993 and marked Die Krupps’ full transition into a metal-industrial outfit, complete with raging riffs, Juergen Engler’s distinctive vocals, and synths high in the mix.

The album is being released in 2 versions, a clear/black effect limited edition (available here) and a black audiophile edition (available here).

This double vinyl reissue includes 11 bonus remixes by The Sisters Of Mercy, Faith No More, Carcass, Paradise Lost, Einstürzende Neubauten, KMFDM, Charlie Clouser and many more. The package is presented in a gatefold sleeve, and all audio has been remastered for the vinyl format.

At the time of its release, Engler was no newcomer to the metal world. He ran his own metal label (Atom H) and had released albums by Accuser, Protector, Rumble Militia and many others. Accuser’s members even helped out on the previous album (“I”) and were initial touring members, later to be replaced by Lee Altus (Heathen, Exodus) for live guitars. “II : The Final Option” marked the emergence of a new style, one that later would be dubbed industrial-metal.

Enjoy this classic, “Fatherland”, already.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Imagica’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Imagica’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

The last album by the ArtOfFact signed act Dead When I Found Her, “All The Way Down”, was such a great release (and so thought many of you as the 2CD edition of the album sold out in less than a month – that’s 500 units) that we absolutely wanted to know what this musician’s musical Top 5 were.

And although he already cited bands such as Haujobb, Skinny Puppy, Mentallo & The Fixer, Doubting Thomas and Gridlock on his Facebook page, there is way more to discover in this absolute TOP 5 from Dead When I Found Her.

Here’s a Top 5 best of from Dead When I Found Her, the solo project by Portland (Oregon) based musician Michael Arthur Holloway. The 1CD version is still available directly from the band’s label, if you haven’t yet picked this one up, do it now.

1. Haujobb – “Blendwerk”

Michael Arthur Holloway: “Lyrics about Ice Cream, didn’t Skinny Puppy already do that on their last album? There must be some new connection between our venerable industrial elders and every kid’s favorite treat, because this can’t be coincidence…

Ok, it probably is coincidence. Anyway, this album is infectious from start to finish. Slick production, precision-honed analog synths, aggressive yet understated vocals (Daniel Meyer has become a master of this approach), and an overall cohesion from track to track this is enviable. A deeply satisfying Haujobb release, and one of their best.”

A white vinyl 2LP version off this album is available right here.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

The Awakening, South Africa’s best known gothic metal export product, is set to release a new single, “The Carriage”, this Halloween. The single will act as the lead single for their full-length album, set to be released March 2016.

“The Carriage” was mastered by Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Sepultura, and Therion) in Los Angeles and the band could count on a guest appearance by Mark Gemini Thwaite (guitarist for The Mission, Peter Murphy, and Gary Numan). The single also is the first recording to feature The Awakening’s new bassist, Chela Rhea Harper (previously of Coal Chamber).

Since relocating to the US in 2008, The Awakening have released their eighth album “Tales Of Absolution + Obsoletion” in 2009, toured extensively, and released “Anthology XV” in 2013. In addition, front man and songwriter Ashton Nyte released 3 solo albums, “The Valley”, “Moederland” and “Some Kind Of Satellite”.

“The Carriage” will be available on iTunes and at www.theawakening.com on Halloween, October 31st.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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